Former Lynnwood player Basham at center of UW recruiting controversy

Current University of Washington defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi is at the center of a recruiting controversy involving former Lynnwood football player Andrew Basham, according to an article released today by The Los Angeles Times.

Basham and his family were allegedly reimbursed $4,500 by Lupoi to pay for tutoring services and online classes to boost Basham’s grade-point average, according to the article. Basham, who was being recruited by the Huskies, signed a National Letter of Intent with Washington last season but failed to meet the school’s academic qualifications and could not enroll at the school.

According to the story, former Lynnwood throwing coach Mike Davis, who worked with Basham during the track and field season, met with Lupoi at the Ram Restaurant and Brewery at the Northgate Mall. During the meeting Davis went to the bathroom and Lupoi followed closely behind him.

“He said, ‘When you go back, there’s a bag there that’s yours,’” Davis said, according to The Los Angeles Times. “When he returned to the booth, Davis said he found a brown paper bag tucked into the booth. He said they talked about football and Basham and then shook hands and left.

“Davis said he did not look in the bag, but when he returned home his stepdaughter Brooke opened it and counted $3,000 in $100 bills.”

Former Lynnwood football head coach Adam Fermstad, who coached Basham during his senior season with the Royals, said he was as surprised as anyone to read Wednesday night’s report.

“I had no idea any of that was going on,” Fermstad said via text message.

In a separate incident, Lupoi allegedly gave Davis and Basham $1,500 in an empty coffee cup at the Washington practice facility on May 18. Davis took the money and gave it to Basham’s father who, according to the story: “He looked in the cup and said, ‘Oh, that’s a good cup of coffee,’” Davis said.

In the article Davis expressed anger that once Basham failed to qualify academically for Washington, Lupoi stopped resonding to Davis’ calls about opportunities for Basham to improve his GPA or enroll at a community college in the hopes of transferring to the Huskies.